handicap

[ han-dee-kap ]
See synonyms for: handicaphandicapped on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. a race or other contest in which certain disadvantages or advantages of weight, distance, time, etc., are placed upon competitors to equalize their chances of winning.

  2. the disadvantage or advantage itself.

  1. any disadvantage that makes success more difficult: The main handicap of our business is lack of capital.

  2. Sometimes Offensive. a physical or mental disability making participation in certain of the usual activities of daily living more difficult.

verb (used with object),hand·i·capped, hand·i·cap·ping.
  1. to place at a disadvantage; disable or burden: He was handicapped by his injured ankle.

  2. to subject to a disadvantageous handicap, as a competitor of recognized superiority.

  1. to assign handicaps to (competitors).

  2. Sports.

    • to attempt to predict the winner of (a contest, especially a horse race), as by comparing past performances of the contestants.

    • to assign odds for or against (any particular contestant) to win a contest or series of contests: He handicapped the Yankees at 2-to-1 to take the series from the Cardinals.

Origin of handicap

1
1640–50; 1870–75 for def. 8; originally hand i' cap hand in cap, referring to a drawing before a horse race

Other words for handicap

Opposites for handicap

Other words from handicap

  • non·hand·i·cap, noun
  • o·ver·hand·i·cap, verb (used with object), o·ver·hand·i·capped, o·ver·hand·i·cap·ping.
  • pre·hand·i·cap, noun, verb (used with object), pre·hand·i·capped, pre·hand·i·cap·ping.

Words Nearby handicap

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use handicap in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for handicap

handicap

/ (ˈhændɪˌkæp) /


noun
  1. something that hampers or hinders

    • a contest, esp a race, in which competitors are given advantages or disadvantages of weight, distance, time, etc, in an attempt to equalize their chances of winning

    • the advantage or disadvantage prescribed

  1. golf the number of strokes by which a player's averaged score exceeds the standard scratch score for the particular course: used as the basis for handicapping in competitive play

  2. any physical disability or disadvantage resulting from physical, mental, or social impairment or abnormality

verb-caps, -capping or -capped (tr)
  1. to be a hindrance or disadvantage to

  2. to assign a handicap or handicaps to

  1. to organize (a contest) by handicapping

  2. US and Canadian

    • to attempt to forecast the winner of (a contest, esp a horse race)

    • to assign odds for or against (a contestant)

Origin of handicap

1
C17: probably from hand in cap, a lottery game in which players drew forfeits from a cap or deposited money in it

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012